Sound Design for Japanese Monster Movie "Gamera vs. Guiron" On The Road

The Challenge for this show was that it was still accounting for all the sound effects for a full length movie, over 450 sound effects, but we had to economize space for travel to take it “on the road” down to Eugene and possibly other future venues. Here, the design had to be done in reverse from when I usually consider sounds: normally if there would be a choice between verbally doing a sound effect or manipulating something for the same sound, I would choose manipulating something as it is more visually interesting, and (most of the time) you get a truer sound.

This time, however, we wanted to keep the number of props to a minimum, so for example instead of carting down a very large wind machine to create the wind sounds, it was replaced with a verbal wind. Doing this replaced a great number of props which would have taken up a lot of table space and cartage for the trip. Another bonus was that we eliminated need for grips to issue and manage props that were needed for the “big stage” version of "Gamera" back in November. We needed two grips to manage the full load for the bigger show, for this design we were able to eliminate the need for both.

In the end we were able to pare down the cartage of props to a couple of plastic totes and some odds and ends, which is pretty remarkable to cover over 400 sound effects for a full length movie! Normally it would take a couple of carloads. Choosing small props to use was also helpful to minimize the cartage.

Here’s the list of props used and the sounds they supplied; I’m not going to list the verbal sounds as it is not as entertaining to peruse. I find it interesting in looking over the list how few items are used for their literal counterpart, that is, shoes making the sound of shoes, or the dart gun for dart gun loading, cocking and firing. That is also probably due to the Sci-Fi nature of the show which calls for some alien things (couldn’t find a REAL space ship to make “space ship sounds, or a REAL laser pistol, darn it…)

FOLEY PROPS for GAMERA VS. GUIRON (Road Show)

Measuring cup + Straw + Water (Underwater bubbles)

Echo Can (Galactic Sounds)

Sm. Switchbox (For various control switches)

Sandpaper blocks (x2) (Sliding doors & panels)

Sandpaper blocks + Forks (x2) (for writing sounds)

Chimes (Solar system display + Moving corridor)

Wine Corker (Spaceship)

Gravel Box + Shoes (Walking outdoors)

Egg Beater (Bicycle sounds)

Dart Gun (for dart gun)

Thunder cone (Asteroids)

Shoes (Walking sounds)

Sm. Straw Broom (Walking through grass)

Box of Magnetic Tape (rustling in grass by rabbit)

Metal Plate (various metallic sounds including monster attacks)

Tupperware containers (x3) (lift up metal plate to create resonance)

Crank coffee grinder (Opening of doors for Guiron)

Balloons + Beans Inside (Explosions)

Sm. Sword (to strike on metal plate)

Umbrella (wing sounds)

Boxing Gloves (various thudding sounds)

Rain stick (transporter sound)

Sm drill (Moving corridor sound)

Playing Cards (computer cards)

Pie pan (food tray)

Glasses x2 (Glasses)

Sack of Potatoes (body falling)

Beard trimmer (Hair cutter)

Socket wrench (Rocket mechanism)

Slap stick (Monster tail slap)

Corn Starch (snow)

Fishbowl + Water + Plunger (water splashes)

Dial Phone (phone sounds)

Round tin container + marbles (Falling debris)

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by David Ian or search for articles on the same topic or others.